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ISLAMABAD: The government has authorised the import of an expensive Hepatitis-C drug from the United States to improve treatment for the estimated eight million people carrying the blood infection, officials said on Monday.

Hailed by experts as a “game-changer”, Sovaldi, which has been on the market since 2013, costs around $1,000 per pill in the US or $84,000 for a single course of treatment, according to a US Senate report released last December.

The drug is now being sold nationally by a Pakistani pharmacy chain for around Rs32,000 per 28 tablets, while the government is urging local manufacturers to produce generic copies on an urgent basis.

“It is estimated that some eight million people are suffering from Hepatitis-C in the country and each year about 80,000 people will die,” a senior health ministry official told AFP.

“These deaths are caused by advanced liver disease spanning over a period of 20-30 years,” he added.

“The government had to act urgently and even before the formal registration of the drug in the country, it gave special permission to import Sovaldi tablets from the US.”